The legal wrangling between USA Gymnastics and the victims of sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar, among others, is over.
The fight for substantive change within the sport’s national governing body is just beginning.
A federal bankruptcy court in Indianapolis on Monday confirmed a $380 million settlement between USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the hundreds of victims, ending one aspect of the fallout of the largest sexual abuse scandal in the history of the U.S. Olympic movement.
Over 90% of the victims, who number more than 500, voted in favor of the tentative agreement reached in September. That agreement called for $425 million in damages, but a modified settlement of $380 million was conditionally approved by the courts. More than 300 victims were abused by Nassar, with the remaining victims abused by individuals affiliated with USA Gymnastics in some capacity.
“The frank reality is the longer this goes on, the more difficult it is for survivors,” she said. “So many of these women, they can’t access medical care without a settlement. We had to balance that reality with the length of time it was taking. We felt it was in the best interest of everyone to accept this settlement … so that survivors would receive some semblance of justice.”
Denhollander pointed out some of the medical care required is not covered by certain types of insurance. The settlement will ease part of the financial burden.
The settlement comes nearly four years after an emotional sentencing hearing in Michigan in which hundreds of women detailed their experiences with Nassar and the toll it took on their lives.
“We prevailed for one simple reason, the courage and tenacity of the survivors,” attorney John Manly, who represented dozens of women, said in a statement. “These brave women relived their abuse publicly, in countless media interviews, so that not one more child will be forced to suffer physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in pursuit of their dreams.”
Denhollander described the five-plus years from when she first approached reporters at the Indianapolis Star to Monday as “hellish.”
“It’s been hellish for all of us,” she said. “To have to push for so long for the right things to take place, to have to push for so long to have justice happen … it should have never taken five years.”
USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in November 2018 in an effort to consolidate the various lawsuits filed against it into one place. The move also forced the USOPC to halt the decertification process it began against USA Gymnastics.
The organization has undergone a massive leadership overhaul in the interim and the settlement will allow it to continue in that capacity going forward.
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